Worksheet Wednesday

Today I am linking up with a free worksheet for The Teaching Tribune's Worksheet Wednesday!

Who doesn't love a little School House Rock?

My students had so much fun learning about subjects and predicates with Mr. Morton.  

I made this free worksheet to go along with the video.

You can find some more freebies at my store here.

And.. don't forget to hit the linky at The Teaching Tribune to find some more amazing freebies from amazing bloggers!

Also, if you haven't entered already, head over here for a chance to win a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate!

Two for Tuesday

I am participating in The Teaching Tribune's Summer Blogging Event for Two for Tuesday!  What that means is I have discounted two of my top selling products at 50% off for one day only, Tuesday, June 10th (and since I am a little late to the party due to kids' doctors appointments, the items will remain on sale until 4:00 PM June 11th to give you a full 24 hours to save!

The products on sale are my Kicking it Math Multiplication and Addition Units.

You can read the full post about how I implement this in my class here.

 

Happy students wearing the "belts" they have won!

 

 

Yes, belts, as in karate belts.  The program involves a karate theme and the students pass levels to earn different belts.  They LOVE this!

 

 

We start by practicing our math facts orally.  Each student has their own key ring with "belts" that have the math facts on them - problems only on one side and problems and answers on the other.  One student says all of the problems and answers while the other student coaches, then they switch.  This takes about 2-3 minutes.

 



 

Here is a close-up of the cards.

 

 

Then we complete a 1 minute timed test.  The students have folders with their current level in a sheet protector.  They answer using a dry erase marker.  I only make copies at the beginning of the year!  Yeah!

 

If they finish before the time is up, they raise their folder above their head, I collect them, grade them, and change the sheet out if they are all correct.

 

 

 

 

Their name is also changed on our level board.

 

 

 

  

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 5 - Writing Around The Literacy Block

Today is another installment of our book study on 100 Minutes, Making Every Minute Count in the Literacy Block by Lisa Donohue.

If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Today I am linking up with Melissa from Dilly Dabbles who is hosting today's chapter.

My thoughts on Chapter 5:

Summer time is the perfect time to work on a book study like this.  It gives me a chance to reflect on all of the areas that went well in my classroom, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm ways to improve things that did not go over quite as well.  As I read through this book I have several a-ha moments about both.  Many of the practices that went well (independent reading for most of my students was very strong) are ones that the author advocates using.  I have found a wealth of ideas for areas that I would like to improve such as writing and adding more time for social studies and science.

Chapter 5 details how to carve out a block of time in your literacy block for direct instruction of writing. Donohue states that you can use this time to model new forms of writing, explore mentor texts, determine success criteria, topic selection, mini-lessons on grammar, and much more. I know I hit some of those things last year, but I would like to go deeper with that.

Research states that teachers need to model thinking and composing strategies when teaching writing.  - THIS is what I need to be doing more of.  I occasionally modeled writing (and got much stronger written papers from my students) but I need to do this all of the time.

Donohue also offers some great questions to ask students as you explore mentor texts as writers.  Many of these questions such as "How does the author use descriptive writing and clear evidence to support his/her work?' align with the Common Core and will really stretch my students.

As I read more and more, I am beginning to give myself permission to do less.  Many of the comments on my previous post involve teachers saying they do not have enough time in the literacy block.  I have felt that way myself and we have 120 minute blocks of time set aside just for literacy - and yet it is never enough.  I think that limiting myself to the 100 minutes (and freeing up additional time for social studies and science - which will also have elements of literacy in them) and making that time more purposeful will be better than 120 minutes of just good enough instruction.  Do I really need to spend 20-30 minutes on word sorts when students don't transfer those spelling skills to their writing? Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way!

I will definitely be modeling writing in my classroom more.  Students need to know what my expectations are otherwise they will hand in superficial responses and ask "How many sentences do we need to write?"

We already use Marzano strategies at our school, so I love the idea of having students help generate the success criteria.

What mentor texts will I use and why?  What technique do I want them to notice and use?
How will I plan lessons that fit into our instructional units but also allow time to address student needs?

Next up- Chapter 6: Exploring Different purposes and Audiences

Be sure to visit Erin from A Piece of the Apple on June 13th  to continue this learning journey with us. She will be hosting chapter 6.

Minute to Win It

I know many of us are out of school and enjoying our summer vacations, but for those of you who are still in, I thought I would share a fun freebie for you from Tonya's Treats for Teachers that we used the last few days of school.  Even if you are out of school, you can file this idea for next year because it is so easy!

Last year we played some Minute to Win It games as well, but I spent hours searching for them on-line and this year was just too stressful and busy to do that again.  I was relieved when I found out that Tonya had done all of the work for me (and for FREE!).  Woo hoo!

The directions were so easy I was even able to leave it for a sub when I unexpectedly had to take Cody to the doctor for his broken arm check up.

Here are a few of the games in action in our class:

So much fun!

You can download this freebie below:

Minute to Win It

Five For Friday June 6, 2014

My first week of summer vacation is over and it is Friday!  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Since I didn't post last week, I felt like I might need to fill you in! Memorial Day Weekend had a rocky start.  I was looking forward to my three day weekend, summer preview when...

Tyler had a baseball tournament this weekend, and Cody asked to play at the park with Luke.  I got a frantic call from his cell phone from another kid at the park saying that Cody had broken his arm.  I ran over there and sure enough his arm was twisting a way that an arm should not twist.  We rushed him to the hospital where they decided he would need surgery to reset it.  He was so brave and such a trooper, but 10 hours at the hospital was rough.  

He is now happily sporting a pink cast.

On the last day of school, I received the best gift ever!

Each of my students placed their hand print along with their name on the fabric, and then a parent helper sewed and quilted it.  I love it!

My third child graduated from high school last week and I can tell you, it hasn't gotten any easier - the tears flow just as hard for the third as the first.

This year he was a T.A. (teacher's assistant) in the special education classroom. He really loved working with the students in that class.  Not only did he want a picture with him and his best friend, but he also wanted a picture with one of his "students" from his class.  He said of all the kids in school he will miss the ones in that class the most!  If film making doesn't work for him, I think he might have a future in special ed!

While we waited for the ceremony to start, Luke played with my cell phone and took a million selfies.  These are just a few!

He also gave me a glimpse into the future later that night...

During our first week of vacation we were able to celebrate Cody's 12th birthday at Dave and Busters.  What a way to honor his last year before he becomes a teenager! Where does the time go????

It is that time of the month again.. time to win a $25 gift card from Teachers Pay Teachers!

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